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or most Tufts students, a meal off-campus means a trip to Anna's Taqueria. The idea of heading to one of the city's white-tableclothed establishments to sip on a full-bodied cabernet sauvignon while cutting into a dry-aged steak may seem foreign. However, during Restaurant Week, such a gastronomic fantasy can become reality.
The idea behind Restaurant Week is fairly simple: Give people the chance to dine at restaurants they would otherwise be unable to afford. A three-course dinner is set at $33.12, while lunch is offered at $20.12. Such pricing is quite appetizing, especially when you consider that an entree alone at some of the participating restaurants is more costly than the Restaurant Week combinations.
But Restaurant Week isn't just for the diner's benefit. It is an opportunity for the restaurants to energize sales. This event occurs biannually, during the weakest times of the calendar year for most of Boston's restaurants. Restaurant Week is meant to attract more customers during these dead zones. For instance, in late summer, many Bostonians leave the city for vacations on Cape Cod. In early spring, diners tend to be relatively budget-conscious. While a restaurant might only seat 30 tables on a given Tuesday night, it is not surprising to encounter a restaurant at full capacity during Restaurant Week. During this period, profits are amassed through volume sales, not pricing.
Restaurant Week is also a form of marketing for these businesses. The discounted meals lure in new diners who might be inclined to try regularly priced offerings in the future.
With only a few days left in Restaurant Week, I highly encourage you all to explore the gastronomic offerings of Boston. There are plenty of restaurants for you to try, and there's no better time to see what is available.
But you should remember to enter Restaurant Week with modified expectations. Know that just because you are eating at some of Boston's best restaurants, you are not going to get the "full" experience. Many of the dishes are exercises in prosaic preparation. That means you shouldn't expect to get made-to-order desserts like souffles or expensive entrees like butter-poached lobster.
However, fancy dishes have never been the point; rather, Restaurant Week is a chance to experience a chef's style or take in the ambiance of a swanky establishment. And, as the expression goes, one should never look a gift horse in the mouth.
Also keep in mind that not all menus are created equal. Lots of places will try to keep costs low by featuring inexpensive dishes. If you're going to spend $20-30, it might as well be on something you actually want. The Restaurant Week website [restaurantweekboston.com] has a copy of almost every participating restaurant's menu. Do your research and sift through the menus until you find a restaurant serving fare that is of interest to you.
Also, learn to read between the lines. Many places offer "supplements" to the prix fixe menu. Several places happily let you order something special - foiegras or premium cuts of meat - but at an extra cost. Look for the word supplement under the item in question. If you're willing to take the plunge, then go for it; if not, keep looking for something else.
Alternatively, pick a restaurant based on ambiance. If you want a swanky place in Back Bay, try Barbara Lynch's No. 9 Park. Want something more casual? Try Lynch's more casual spot, Sportello's. Restaurant Week is a time to indulge and try something entirely new. That's not to say you shouldn't ignore familiar faces - after all, The Foundry On Elm is offering a great menu. But there's so much more to Boston; why not go explore a different part of the city?
Many chefs during Restaurant Week feature dishes that highlight the chef's oeuvre. Nowhere is this clearer than at Market, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Boston restaurant. At Market, the lunch and dinner offerings this week were cherry picked from the actual a la carte menu. At lunch, for example, the salmon fillet is slowly baked at 200 degrees Fahrenheit until it has the tenderness of room-temperature butter. While the cut of fish is slightly smaller than it would be on the full-price menu, there is no difference in preparation. And in typical Jean-Georges fashion, the salmon is served with unexpected flavors - in this case, passion fruit and black olive.
Similarly, the pea soup appetizer is just as transcendent as it has always been. Its banal description on the menu belies the dish's magical presentation. It begins with a hot parmesan cream being whipped through a nitrous oxide charger, creating an airy foam. Then the piping hot pea soup is added via a small kettle. The theatricality of this dish makes it a highlight.
If steak is what you're craving, try Umbria Prime. This establishment features a 35-day dry-aged filet mignon. For the unfamiliar, dry-aging involves hanging meat in a cooled, air-controlled environment. As the moisture evaporates, the muscle's flavor is concentrated, leading to a beefier flavor. Furthermore, the aging process breaks down the enzymes in the meat, which helps tenderize it. If you opt for surf rather than turf, go for either the lobster ravioli with crustacean foam or the Alaskan Black King Salmon. Prized for its flavor and ruby coloring, King Salmon is richer than most farm-raised versions of the fish.
During Restaurant Week, Ken Oringer's tapas bar, Toro, gives guests a rather expansive deal. Rather than serving the traditional three courses, Toro offers diners a choice of five tapas for two people, eight for three people or 10 for four people. You'll also get to choose one pintxo (the Basque word for canape) and a dessert.
Craigie on Main takes a slightly different approach for bargain-conscious eaters. Rather than compromise the quality of its food, Craigie on Main has chosen to extend its popular Sunday "Chef's Whim Tasting Menu" to Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. James Beard award recipient Tony Maws improvises either a $40 four-course or $55 six-course menu. Each course is a total surprise, so be prepared to surrender yourself to the kitchen's offal-centric spontaneity.
For Jumbos over the age of 21, Restaurant Week is also a great opportunity to indulge in wine. Boston is notorious for its lack of "Happy Hour" specials; however, during Restaurant Week many establishments will offer food-friendly bottles of wines at discounted prices. Even if you don't consider yourself much of a wine drinker, there's always wine by the glass. For budding oenophiles, look no further than Bistro 5. This Medford-based Italian restaurant features a $16 wine pairing with its three-course dinner. That means you'll get three glasses of wine, each one tailored to the flavor profile of the given course.
There is a wide variety of options for Restaurant Week. If you are interested, call one of these restaurants for a reservation. Spots may already be filled for peak hours, but you might be able to score an early or late dinner, or else squeeze in at the full-service bar. And if you happen to miss out, many of these restaurants continue to offer wallet- and palate-friendly options the rest of the year. As they say, bon appetit!
